Expanding the Flock
by gingerbritishgypsyelf
Summary: When Max gets a call from her voice, it leads her to another bird-kid, supposedly from another test group! Now who IS this kid, what will they be to the Flock, who are they really, and why is their existance so vital?
1. Chapter 1

The Flock Expands

It was all going pretty good for me and the flock. We were actually taking a break at my mom's house. Man it feels so good to be able to say that--mom. We were actually working on a big batch of chocolate chip cookies-AKA heaven in edible form-when I heard a familiar

_Hello Max,_ from the oh-so-helpful Voice inside my head.

_Why now?_ I moaned silently.

_Listen, Max. This is important. _

_When is it not? _I asked sarcastically, _Don't you ever drop in just to say hello?_

_Since when do social calls really matter to you? _The voice commented. I didn't bother answering and settled with an exasperated,

_Okay, what is it?_

_You're going to find someone important. _The Voice said, sounding very pleased with itself.

_Someone?_ This was a new twist. Normally we went places for missions and stuff, but a person…I was intrigued despite myself.

_Just follow these directions and you'll get there soon. _The Voice signed off before I could ask any more questions.

I sighed grumpily as Nudge pulled a cookie sheet out of the oven, her eyes glued to the warm pieces of chocolaty heaven. Angel was staring at them intently too. I wondered if she was trying to mentally make them cool. My mom was sliding another tray of cookie dough into the oven to bake-she knows how much we eat. My mouth watered at the thought of the cookies I now wouldn't get to eat.

_Thanks a lot Voice._ I thought.

"Mom?"

She looked up at me as she shut the oven. "Yes Max?"

"We gotta go."

She didn't ask any questions, just nodded and began taking hot cookies out of the pan and into a brown paper bag. Oh my God my mother was a saint. I exited the kitchen and went into the living room where Iggy was bobbing his head to his I-pod and Gazzy had opened the back of the TV and was examining its circuits with an evil grin I didn't trust. Now Gasman's just a little kid, but him and the TV had a date with danger-forget I said that , it sounded way too corny. Him+TV set=possible explosion.

"We're headed out you guys."

Gasman looked up, with a guilty look on his face and Iggy didn't appear to have heard me. I lightly whacked his arm and he took an ear bud out.

"We're going."

Iggy rolled off the couch and stood up, turning the little I-pod off. Gazzy slowly backed away from the TV, probably hoping I wouldn't notice he had been messing with it.

"Did you break it?" I asked immediately, as he turned to tiptoe off.

"No…it still works fine." He demonstrated by turning the TV on. It sparked a little but the picture came in clear.

I eyed him suspiciously, but only said, "Get ready. We're leaving ASAP."

Fang was already walking up towards the house. I yelled the message out the window and gave my mom a quick hug goodbye. After a quick bathroom break (because there are no bathrooms at 25,000 feet in the air. Gazzy attempted to convince me to let him just go while he was flying once, but pretty much the whole flock yelled 'Gross!' at him. And I said no. He was bummed.) We trotted out the door, I gave my mom one last hug, we got our bag of oh-so-delicious cookies, and we were off. I followed the directions given to me by the Voice. It was nice to be in the air. Total was muttering something grumpily at the time, but no one really paid any attention to him.

It was about five-thirty in the afternoon when we arrived in New York, New York. (If you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere…or so I've heard.) And the directions then got much more specific so we stayed kind of low-key and walked. Because nothing was more conspicuous than six bird-kids flying above the streets of New York….New York.

We finally ended up in about the least likely place I would have guessed: the library. I mean, normally when the Voice sends us somewhere it's a bit more wild or dangerous. But there we were. At the library. The New York Public Library.

"What're we doing at a _library_?" asked Nudge.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I shrugged.

_Go up to floor five. _The Voice instructed like I was mentally incompetent. I refrained from being sarcastic because I was curious. Well…almost.

_You can count to five?_ I asked it, falsely astonished. The Voice ignored me. I swear if that thing was as easy to get rid of as some of our more annoying enemies, that Voice would be G-O-N-E gone. But it isn't so on we went into the oh-so-threatening library.

We took the stairs. I know the elevator would've been faster, but we're claustrophobic. Bird kids and elevators just don't mix. So we climbed. Once we got to the fifth floor, the voice gave me oddly specific instructions of how many rows to go over, then how far back. But I followed the instructions. The Voice had a reason.

I stopped after the instructions ran out. There was a girl sitting on the floor, reading a book. She looked about fourteen with dark brown hair with a bit of red in it, big brown eyes, and a frightened look that slowly changed to one of cautious curiosity. I wasn't really sure what to say.

_Hello, I'm Max. The voice inside my head told me to come find you. Do you know why?_ Oh yeah. That would go over real well. But Angel said something before I could, very quiet, like when she talked to animals.

"No, we won't hurt you. It's okay."

The girl's eyes widened and her eyes flickered over our group, then back to Angel. She cocked her head to one side, like a dog when it was puzzled.

"I don't know." Angel told her. She was now sitting on her heels, so she was about the same level as the girl.

I couldn't help but wonder why the Voice wanted me to come see this girl. She didn't look all that useful, honestly. And frankly, the Voice wasn't always on my side.

_Look closer Max._ The Voice told me.

I looked. Nothing amazing burst into my brain. _Ummm, Voice? I got nothing here. _

_Look at her. Really look at her. _The Voice sounded a bit annoyed. I looked again, studying her. Her hair fell to lightly brush her shoulders, she looked thin, but not skinny, kind of wiry really, kind of like …oh my God. Like us. Like bird-kids.

_There you go. _The Voice sounded smug.

_How? We were the surviving ones. _I asked. But the Voice had left these questions for me to figure out. As I thought nasty things about it, there was a woman's voice softly calling through the library.

"Cammie? Cammie?"

The girl looked up as an oldish looking woman-sort of grandmotherly, but also very librarian-y, walked over.

"There you are. It's almost time to go." She then got a good look at us. She looked from us, to the girl, apparently called Cammie, then asked calmly-which was really surprising because it probably looked like we were mobbing her or something,

"Cammie, who are these people?"

Rather then speaking, the girl began making weird motions with her hands. It hit me a second later that she was using sign language.

"Ummm, is she deaf?" I asked, feeling stupid, especially since this could very well be a trap. It was too easy. I mean, the chance of finding the last bird-kid left other than ourselves with no violence or fighting or trouble at all was…well pretty much impossible. I was automatically on guard and I shot a glance back at Fang. He nodded shortly and began scanning the area.

The librarian-grandma-woman shook her head. "She doesn't talk."

"Never?" Nudge asked, fascinated. I was pretty sure if Nudge tried being Cammie for a day, she'd go insane. I kind of smiled at the thought, then repressed the smile and got back into fugitive-mode. Trust no one but the flock. Not even a possible bird-kid. Itex was getting too clever nowadays and a bird-kid decoy was exactly the nasty trick I'd expect them to pull.

"I've never heard her talk." The grandmother-lady replied, smiling at Nudge.

_A grandmother/librarian? Too easy, too weak. This looks almost blatantly trap-like. Maybe she's a genetic freak too…_ I thought. The Flock was my responsibility, my family. I wasn't getting them into trouble with a grandma who could possibly be an Itex agent. Or a genetically enhanced lady waiting for us to let our guard down.

"Um…are you her mom?" I felt pretty stupid but asking 'Are you her grandma' would be really insulting if she _was_ her mom. And I didn't want to offend the woman who was looking after a possible bird-kid. My own manners shocked me. Especially since at that moment I was considering escape plans.

"No. I just look after her. She came in here one day and after a couple days of her being in here, I asked her to come home with me. She was just…something special. She always looked so scared. I taught her sign language so she could speak."

The story sounded suspiciously like a weepy Halmark movie so I asked,

"What's the "something special" about Cammie?"

"She just told me you're like her, so I suppose there's no point in denying it. She's got wings." Her voice dropped to a low whisper that we could barely hear. "And she eats like there's no tomorrow."

Fang and I exchanged a glance and we waited for the old lady to say something. I inconspicuously rolled my shoulders, making sure my wings were loose and ready in case I jumped through the window.

"I'm Marie. Why don't you kids come home with Cammie and I today. You can have dinner with us and we can talk."

I looked at Angel and asked a silent, _Can we trust her?_ Angel nodded. I looked back at Marie. There were too many reasons not to do this. It was too much like a trap. This lady's house could be equipped with weapons or she could have tranquilizers in her purse. The Flock could be toast and Cammie could easily be a really good actress who worked for Itex or some other agency of doom. And yet…the possibility that there was another bird-kid on our side, one who needed a flock. I looked back at Fang, who was apparently having the same thoughts as me. He slowly looked at me, then at Cammie, then nodded.

"All right." I said carefully.

She smiled at us and said, "Library closes in fifteen minutes or so. I'll meet you all at the door then. Cammie, you coming?"

Cammie shook her head, then signed something to Marie, who smiled. "Okay." she said, then she headed for the elevator.

Once she was gone, it was a little awkward. Seven bird-kids in a library-it sounded like the beginning of a joke. So seven bird kids walk into a library, then one says to the other- and then some witty, snappy punch line. Cammie signed something to us.

"We don't speak sign language," I said apologetically. "Sorry."

_She could be a spy. Why am I apologizing?_

_Max, _Angel's voice came on in my head, _She just wants to know about us, she doesn't want to hurt the Flock. She's s good guy. _

On the "Cammie is a good guy" front, I was a little iffy, but I just nodded at Angel, then looked to Cammie.

"Is it okay if Angel translates for you?" I asked.

Cammie nodded, then looked to Angel and began signing.

"She wants to know about us." Angel said. I knew this was mind-reading, but it was still a little weird to know that all of those funny gestures had translated to plain and simple English. My "leader-Max" told me that sign language could be a useful tool in recon, so I stored that bit of information in the back of my head and looked at Cammie. We needed information about her and we needed it now. The more information I had, the safer the Flock was.

I began, speaking softly. "I'm Max and this is the Flock. Where did you come from?"

Cammie signed something and Angel said a word that chilled our spines even then.

"She says, School."

"How come we've never met you?"

Cammie signed and Angel spoke again, "She says that there were two test groups. Everyone else in hers died. And ours went away."

"But how did you get out?" I asked.

"She says they let her go, but once she was out she took this tracking chip out of her arm with a piece of sharp metal." Angel translated. Cammie rolled up her sleeve to reveal a large, angry-looking bunch of scars. The flesh was a little twisted and her arm looked kind of like modern art in the way the scars were patterned. You could tell that she's dragged her flesh through the metal several times and there was a spot of scar in the middle that looked a little darker, where she had taken the chip out. Clever bird-kid. Bet the scientists didn't see that coming from the mute little girl. If she was who she said she was, anyway.

It was the sort of horrifyingly ugly thing that fascinated people. I couldn't look away, hypnotized until Cammie rolled her sleeve back down.

"She wants to know our names…who we are." Angel said.

Fang, charming as ever, nodded his dark head. "I'm Fang." Then he wet back to studying the books on the shelves around them. Gazzy also stated his name, then stood and wandered over to the window and peered out over the city.

"Hi! I'm Nudge." Nudge chirped to Cammie, seeming really pleased to have someone to talk to after all the silence on our part.

Angel smiled quietly, "I'm Angel."

I waved, "I already said I was Max."

Iggy raised a friendly hand as well. "I'm Iggy."

Cammie signed something to Angel, who nodded and apparently replied in thoughts. I really wished I could understand them, but the pair kept up their silent conversation for a few minutes while the rest of us kind of sort of there awkwardly waiting to be included.

"Time to go downstairs!" Angel announced abruptly. Cammie's face twisted into a gentle sort of smile as she watched us all gather together. As Fang and Gazzy took Iggy's hand, Cammie turned to Angel and signed something to her.

"He's blind." Angel explained. Cammie cocked her head again and cautiously walked over to Iggy. She gently placed a hand on his wrist, then looked back to Angel.

"Can she touch your eyes?" Angel asked.

Iggy nodded uncertainly and Cammie slowly moved her hand from his wrist to his cheek. He closed his eyes and she gently brushed her fingers over his eyelids. As she lowered her hand, Iggy opened his eyes again.

"Can she read my lips?" he asked.

Cammie nodded, and Angel helpfully input a "Yes."

"Why did you do that?"

"She was curious." Angel said, "She wanted to see if they felt different."

"Oh." Iggy said. Then our party marched down multiple flights of stairs and met Marie by the front doors of the library. I looked over the Flock and thought at Angel,

_Tell them to be on their guard. We don't know who these people are and we should be ready for anything. _

_Okay, Max. _Angel replied in mind-speak. She apparently transmitted the thought because each member of my flock slowly looked at me and nodded.

Marie looked over our group. "I may need to heat up more casserole."


	2. Chapter 2

Feathered Friends (and Non-Feathered Enemies)

We walked to Marie and Cammie's house, down a few blocks and over one. It was a little bigger than I'd expected. There were only two people and the house had three floors, for crying out loud!

Seeing me gape, Marie offered, "It's been in my family for a while now. I got it from my mother in her will."

I nodded as Cammie took out her key and opened the front door, which was painted in a faded green. The rest of the house was brick. Brick was good. It wasn't easily flammable.

"I'll give you the tour," Marie offered, as we walked into the front hall. She and Cammie hung their coats on a coat tree and Cammie motioned for us to do the same. I accepted, hanging up my jacked hesitantly. If we had to run, I really would need my coat, but I didn't want the pair to think we distrusted them.

"Sure, we'd love a tour," I replied politely to Marie's offer. Knowing the layout of this place would make things easy in a fight.

The house was more like a rather large cottage really. The house did have 3 floors, but they were all really small. A kitchen, living room, and cupboard-sized half-bathroom took up the first floor. Marie walked us through it, gesturing towards the old-looking furniture and ancient freezer, telling us to make ourselves comfortable. Total, who had been hiding in Gasman's coat since the library, hopped out and settled himself comfortably on the worn run in front of the fireplace in the living room.

Marie blinked exactly twice at Total, then smiled. "Scottie, right? I hope he likes casserole."

"Oh he'll eat anything," I replied quickly before Total could ask what kind.

"That's good. Too many dogs are eating all that processed garbage now. When I was a girl, we fed our dog table scraps, nothing else to it." She smiled and we moved on.

Despite my intentions, I softened a bit to Marie. How many people would take in six bird-kids without a fuss, then not even get annoyed when they brought along their dog? Unless she worked for Itex. Then my softened would be replaced with kick-some-old-lady-behind.

The second floor housed a full bathroom with a claw-foot bathtub and really interesting tiling, two tiny bedrooms, and a little study/library. Marie pointed out the bathtub with pride, mentioning happily that it was the original tub that her mother bought. A shower head had been added, and the tub had been fitted to the wall to make things more convenient, but it didn't seem to matter because both Angel and Nudge looked excited about an _authentic _claw-foot bathtub. What? They don't get many kicks in life. Give the poor kids a break.

The third floor was amazing. It was a large room, open and airy, with a few pieces of really beat-up furniture, a balcony and a skylight. Blankets were piled in one corner and a few boxes marked in black marker hinted that the loft was also used for storage.

The flock gaped openly at the open space, but security the loft had. It was a perfect spot, the sort I would have picked out if we had been on the run.

"This is Cammie's favorite room," Marie interjected. I nodded, not really listening, as I studied every aspect of the loft. There was a large square flap in one wall and I walked over to look at it.

"Laundry chute," Marie supplied with a laugh. "We used to climb down it as kids. My mother thought we would break our necks. Actually my brother Timothy broke his leg when he got stuck. He was too big and he tried to drop rather than climb, but I'll spare you the details. The laundry room is on the first floor and wasn't included because I figured you had better things to do than look at my laundry."

I nodded again, a faint smile tugging at my lips. The place had a secret entrance and exit in the laundry chute. I liked it here more and more. Looking up to see if the others had come to the same conclusion, I did an automatic head count. Angel, Fang, Nudge, Iggy, Gasman…Gasman? I did a second head count. No Gazzy anywhere to be found. On alert, I looked to Angel, who chuckled and send me a thought.

_Laundry chute._

I walked over to the chute and peered down it. The distinctive smell that Gasman was named for puffed out of the square hole as I raised the flap. I gagged as I inhaled. Yup. Gazzy had definitely been here.

"Gazzy, once you come out of the bottom, come back upstairs," I ordered into the hole, the metal chute sides making my voice echo back to me. Marie chuckled behind me and I whirled.

"He's as bad a troublemaker as Timmy was."

I nodded again. I seemed to be doing a lot of nodding during then, so I accompanied it with an "You'd be surprised."

"I doubt it. Timmy got into a lot of things."

I merely repeated myself, "You'd be surprised."

Marie shrugged, "All right. Do you all want to wait up here while I make supper, or do you want to hang around the kitchen?"

"We'll just get to know each other a little better," I said, forcing a smile.

"There's _tons_ we don't know about Cammie!" Nudge piped up helpfully. Angel grinned brightly,

"I'll go get Total." and trotted downstairs, calling the dog's name.

A few moments later, Total the talking Wonder dog was in the loft and Angel was scrambling up the stairs after. Marie gave a hesitant smile and went down the stairs.

"I'll call when supper's ready." She was gone a few moments later and I gave the place another good look-around, stopping as I heard Gazzy coming up the stairs.

"So what's it like living here?" Nudge asked Cammie. Cammie smiled and signed at her as Angel spoke the words aloud.

"She says it's nice. The food is good, she has lots to read, and no one notices her in this city. She's just another teenage girl." Angel petted Total as she spoke, and Total accepted the affection before going over to Cammie and asking,

"Any good places to walk around here?"

Cammie jumped and looked at me, signing frantically.

"Yeah, he talks." I said wryly and Cammie hesitantly sat back down, leaning back a little from Total's general direction.

After a few minutes of Cammie's studying Total with a mixture of fear and astonishment, she signed her reply back to Total.

"There's a park a few blocks over, but she only goes out with Marie." Angel appeared to enjoy her translating job.

"So…what's you favorite color?" Nudge asked brightly.

The answer was blue and Nudge happily chattered to Cammie about clothes and things like that. The rest of us kind of hung about. I walked over to the window where Fang was standing, with Iggy a few feet away, running his fingers over the smooth coating of paint.

"What do you think? Is this real?" I asked Fang in a soft whisper. He shrugged, being oh-so-helpful.

"Maybe. But even when Total talked, she didn't yell or anything. I think she would have if she was faking. The old woman seems all right too. And Angel says they're okay."

"But does it feel right to you?"

"Feels…safe here." The conversation was over and I nodded, walking back over to see Nudge chatting about the new style, the tunic-dresses that were at the moment, "in".

Cammie looked a little overwhelmed and she reminded me of…well…us. She looked at me a little pleadingly and a bit my lip, trying not to laugh. If she _was_ an imposter, than this was our version of torture. And either Cammie was great under pressure or she was for real. And I knew a way to find out. I walked up to her, putting a quick hand to Nudge's shoulder to silence her.

"You're a bird-kid, right? What color are you wings?" I asked, trying to sound friendly and conversational. Cammie ducked her head shyly, then reached behind her.

"Scatter!" I shouted. Wings did not come on your neck, and the only thing I thought it might be was a weapon. The flock scattered, Gazzy headed for the laundry chute and Fang threw open the window.

"No, wait, STOP!" shouted Angel. We all whirled and Angel pointed to Cammie. "She's not going to hurt us."

Cammie was holding her hair up and underneath it was a thin layer of feathers resting against her neck. They varied in color from a dark tawny-brown to blackish gold and lay against her neck. They were short feathers, not down or for flight. But there they were. The group of us stared openly.

"She's not 2% bird like we are." Angel announced. "She's 3 ½ to 4% bird." Cammie nodded and lowered her hair so it covered the feathers in question.

"So up-dos are a no, huh?" Nudge asked sympathetically.

"They molt and she has them there on and off," Angel replied, translating Cammie's response.

"We're going to need to talk about this," I said in my best leader-voice. Cammie nodded and gestured at Fang.

"She says close the window." Angel told him. Fang grudgingly obeyed.

Cammie began to sign and Angel narrated, all while putting the images that Cammie remembered into our brains. It was kind of like a mix of movies and radio, but you wouldn't get what I'm saying unless you've tried it.

_"There were seven of us. All together. In cages. They tested us. There were needles, drugs, trials. Every day. We never knew when they were going to spring something on us." _

Cammie bit her lip and stopped and Angel paused in her narrative, waiting for her to be ready. Cammie took a deep breath and continued. Even Gazzy stopped looking around and listened.

_"The oldest was Alec. He was the biggest and the strongest. He took care of all of us. Then came me. Then Hotshot, Shocker, Lilly, and Shiver. Then Holly. We were all 2% bird, then they added things. I'm 4% bird. Alec was part ox. Hotshot was part cheetah. Shocker was part electric eel. Lily was part rabbit. Shiver was part snake. Holly was part dolphin. …."_

Cammie paused again, ducking her head and wiping her face with her sleeve. Angel looked to her, then me, shooting me a sad look. But Cammie was signing again and Angel continued.

_"They tested things on us all the time. That's how Shiver got his name. He's start shaking whenever needles came near. And they made us run mazes, dodge things. Test our speed, strength reflexes. Hotshot was fastest. They didn't talk to us, or treat us like people. But we thrilled them. Shocker could electrocute people, just shock them. Lily had hearing like a rabbit. Alec was strong. Shiver had amazing reflexes. Holly…we never learned what she could do. She was just a little baby."_

"What about you?" Nudge interrupted. Cammie shook her head and began to tremble. "You don't have to," Angel said quickly. Cammie's shaking slowed a little, but as she signed and Angel spoke, I could see it.

_"One day, they tested us more than they had ever tested us before. Oldest to youngest. We all passed…except Holly. They tried to get her to swim, since she was part dolphin, and dolphins learn from birth how to live in the water. But…she drowned. They had to tie Alec down, Shiver was shaking so hard they had to tranquilize him… She was just a baby!"_

Cammie stopped signing, her hands shaking violently. She bowed her head and we watched her shake. Wetness dropped out from beneath the hair masking her face, dripping onto the floor. And then the incredible happened. I never saw this coming, not in a million years, especially from one of my flock. Iggy slowly made his way over to Cammie as she shook and felt around on the floor until he found her knee. He gently squeezed it and it was as if he cued the rest of us. Angel came to one side, and Nudge to the other. I went around behind her and Gazzy and Fang came closer too. We all leaned in, holding her as one flock. Nearly silent sobs made their way up her throat and shook our group. And I felt like Cammie was one of us.

Cammie looked over to Angel. Her eyes were red and wet, and her face was a little blotchy. She signed to Angel.

"She doesn't want to talk anymore."

I nodded quietly. "That's okay."

Cammie leaned back into the rest of us, and just as I was beginning to feel a little attached and yes, teary, myself, (what? I know a lot of what the kid went through. If you had been there, you'd be bawling your eyes out.) the call came from down stairs.

"Kids! Dinner!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Cammie went to the bathroom and washed her face off. I directed the flock to wash up. I don't know about you, but I like to clean up when I can. Iggy and Gasman moaned, but I was firm and surprisingly, they obeyed me. We thundered down the stairs like…well a bunch of hungry mutant kids. The kitchen table had a bunch of casserole dishes on it and the smell was amazing. It was better than anything I'd ever smelled before. We all sat down at the chairs Marie seemed to have dug out of storage and as Fang reached for a serving spoon to help himself, Marie slapped his hand away. Fang was too surprised to react and after a long pause, he pulled his hand back, a look of surprise on his face. If I'd had a camera, I would have saved that picture forever. It was hilarious.

"At my house we pray before meals." Marie said. "And after we finish, I'll tell you what's what. Then you can dig in."

I couldn't remember praying before meals before and as the flock looked at me like I was psycho, I folded my hands, like I'd seen kids on TV do. The rest of the flock slowly followed my example, Fang last of all. (He was still in shock after being slapped by an old lady. He's NEVER going to live that one down.)

Marie folded her hands, bowed her head, and said aloud, "Dear Lord, we thank you for this food, for Cammie's friends coming to find her, and for the blessing you bestow upon us each day. Bless us oh Lord, in these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen." She touched her hand to her forehead, chest, then each shoulder, ending the prayer.

"All right then. That dish is meatloaf, that one's shepherd's pie, that's spaghetti bake, there's stew, there's pot roast, green bean casserole, and at the end is the Mexican chicken casserole. Help yourself."

I shot dirty looks at Gasman and Fang, who grabbed spoons like they were going to be snatched from them. Nudge filled her plate, then helped Iggy get some food too. After we all covered our plates in food, the only sound was chewing. Cammie looked really upset for a while, but as I shot glances at her all while we were eating, she calmed down a lot, until she was even smiling a little. Which, considering that her whole flock died and she lived most of her life in a cage, I think that's pretty much a miracle. Okay, I know what you're thinking. _She feeds you a sob story and suddenly you're her number one fan?_

For one thing, no. I was still on my guard. But the feathers, the story that sounded accurate, and the fact that she was sitting there crying made me feel just a bit more trusting. I know what you're thinking now, _Geez Max, she could have faked all of that crap. _Well I think the possibility of another bird kid clouded my judgment, okay? When you become one six people who are the only people of your species, you'll get it. Until then, shut up.

The whole meal was pretty much silent, and a little awkward. Total was pretty much sulking because we made him pretend to be a normal dog and eat table scraps out of a bowl, but afterwards, Marie said the magic words.

"Do any of you kids want a shower? Our water heater can take it if you each go really fast. I think that the dog can take a bath too."

Total bristled at "the dog" but Angel shot him a look and he grumbled and went back to his food. I think the food thing won him over a little.

"Showers would be great," I said.

"You kids don't have any pajamas do you?"

"No, we're fine," I said, but Marie just clicked her tongue at me and went up the stairs, calling, "I have some of my son's old clothes upstairs. And I think some of my husband's old things would fit the two bigger boys, and you."

I tried to protest, but Marie just kept walking up the stairs and out of sight. Cammie smiled and chuckled. I looked over at her. Marie had said that she made noise, but other than the sobs, which I really hadn't thought about, this was the first sound I'd heard out of her. Seeing my suspicious look, Cammie signed to me and Angel spoke without even glancing at her.

"She can make noises, just like Marie said. She just doesn't talk."

"Why?" Nudge asked. Tact was not something we had been taught at the school.

Cammie shook her head, then signed a bit more. "I can't." Angel replied, voicing Cammie's thoughts.

Marie came back downstairs holding a big cardboard box, which she set on the floor. She pulled out three big flannel shirts and three pairs of sweatpants. They had drawstring waists, otherwise they never would have fit us. She dug out a really worn pair of boy's pajamas that looked like they would fit Angel, and then she did a bit more digging in the box as we watched. A pair of jeans looked like they would fit Gazzy magically appeared out of the box. From the astonishment on Angel's face, I think she thought it was magic or something. I was pretty surprised myself.

"I just dumped some of the clothes from Kyle and Nathan's boxes into here. I think we can find some better pants and a shirt for you to sleep in, dear," she said, looking to Gazzy. "And if we dig a bit, I have some old things that might fit you," she told Nudge, "and if not, Nathan, my son, used to have this old sweatshirt and a pair of pajama pants that I might still have around. We'll go look while the rest shower, okay?"

Angel happily volunteered to go first so Marie showed her to the towels and pointed to the bathroom. I followed Nudge, Gazzy, and Marie up to the loft to look through boxes for clothes. We dug for a while, and after Angel, Iggy, and Fang had showered and changed, we had gotten a bunch of mismatched clothes for us to sleep in. Nudge went next in the shower, then Gazzy. I was last, which meant I had a really good chance of getting cold water. But everyone had gone quickly so I washed my hair really well, scrubbed, then just soaked until the water started getting cold. Showers were a luxury on the run and I wished the hot water had lasted longer, but I pulled on Marie's husband's old clothes and she put ours in the washing machine. Total did apparently get his bath, in the kitchen sink. Angel had given it to him during Nudge and Gazzy's showers.

Marie did the dishes and Cammie helped. Feeling a little guilty, I joined them, and slowly the flock helped out. Angel and Gazzy dried, Nudge and Fang helped rinse and wash. Cammie and I put away. Iggy sat at the kitchen table and listened to his I-pod.

As Marie shot a third or fourth glance at Iggy, Cammie signed something to Marie and Angel shot me a thought, _She told Marie Iggy was blind. Marie feels sorry for him. _

I nodded at her and once the dishes were done, it was eight-ish and Angel was beginning to yawn, which quickly spread to the rest of us. Have you ever noticed how yawns do that? They just keep bouncing from person to person and as more people yawn, they pass it on so even if it started with one person, the whole room would be yawning in a little while. I wonder if that could be used as a weapon? Attack of the yawns.

Marie smiled at us. "Tired?"

I nodded and she went upstairs, waving for us to follow her. She set up a whole bunch of blankets and a few pillows on the floor for us. It was like a big nest made of sleeping bags, quilts, old blankets and comforters. We used piles of old clothes for pillows since there weren't enough for all of us. After several bathroom breaks, two people getting up for water, and a whole lot of getting comfortable, we all settled in and fell asleep.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When I woke up, I smelled bacon. Bacon in the morning is one of the best smells in the universe. I went down the stairs and found Marie frying bacon while Cammie cooked eggs. Nudge was manning the toaster, and Angel and Gazzy were sitting eating cereal. I guessed it was their third bowl or so because they weren't wolfing it down. Iggy and Fang were eating already and Total was eating a mix of bacon, eggs, and bread from a bowl on the floor. He shot me a suffering look as I walked in, but I ignored it and went over to the stove.

"Where did you get all this food?" I asked.

"Went to the supermarket a couple blocks over. I got a few loaves of bread, some bacon and sausage, and eggs." She flipped over the bacon and my mouth watered. Bacon just smells soooooo good. Nudge buttered toast and added it to a large pile.

"I think that's enough dear, come have something to eat," Marie told her. Nudge grinned and bounded over to get some food. I grabbed some toast from a pile that looked like that leaning tower in Italy or somewhere. Breakfast was almost as good as dinner and afterwards we all got dressed. As I came down the stairs, shoes ties, backpack packed, ready to go, I heard a crash.

_Danger! _This time my spidey senses were tingling and I knew something was wrong. I dashed down the last few stairs and into the living room and switched into fighter-mode. There was a person standing on the floor with glass all around him. Except he wasn't a normal person. He had scales all over him, and claws. And a tail. (Yeah I know. Surprised me too.)

First Erasers, then Flyboys, now mutant snake-people? I thought Itex was going for robots now, thus the Flyboys. I mean, robots obey. Always. They can't not obey because you program them that way. And we were back at square one with a mutant-person. The next time we met up with an Itex person (which hopefully wasn't soon) I'd have to take it up with them. Well, at least he didn't have fangs. …Oh I had spoken too soon.

"Going somewhere?" I asked, putting up my fists. He hissed and jumped at me, mouth open, fangs extended and looking really nasty. I kicked and he hissed in pain, whipping his tail around to hit me in the face. I ducked and it missed by an inch. A second later though, he was on the floor, writhing in pain. When I looked around to find the reason, I saw Fang, Iggy, and Nudge holding him down. Angel dashed into the room, took one look at the snake-thing, and announced,

"He's looking for Cammie."

I nodded, then turned to the snake-person, "Look buddy. You have two choices here. You run away, or we hurt you until you can barely walk, and then you run away.

The snake-thing hissed, "I'll strangle you."

"Option B then. Why do you guys always have to pick a fight? You're outnumbered."

Cammie ran into the room, followed closely by Marie.

"What is that?" Marie gasped. She looked a little faint. Bird-kids are one thing. Snake-men are completely another. I almost sympathized, but was a bit busy.

"A mutant snake-man. At least I'm pretty sure it's a man." I said pleasantly. The snake-thing hissed and Nudge jostled it a little so it shut up. The irony of Nudge inflicting silence was pretty funny, but this was no time for games.

"What does it want?"

"Capture winged children," the snake-thing hissed.

"You know, we don't want any trouble. All you have to do is leave and we won't follow you." I remarked.

The thing hissed again, and much to my--and everyone else's--shock the thing nodded.

"I go without a fight. Winged children no follow. I go alone."

I shot a surprised look to the group sitting on the snake-man. They looked a little suspicious, but very surprised. I looked to Angel for confirmation that the snake-man wasn't lying or something. She nodded at me, and I nodded at Nudge, Fang, and Iggy. They got off of him and all took a step back, giving him a little room. Plus, if he attacked, they needed a little swinging room. Punches are good at close-range, but not _that _close. The snake-thing stood and backed out of the window, then ran off down the street, looking once or twice over his shoulder to see if any of us were following. Cammie looked at me, a little shocked, then back after he snake-man, who was still running.

As he ran, he changed, back so he looked like everyone else. That explained the choice of mutant over Flyboy. If the mutant guy looked like a regular person, he attracted way less attention than a Flyboy. Big, gun-handed robots just seem to attract people's attention. I mean, it's just weird how that would work. (For those of you who aren't the brightest bulbs in the box, I'm being sarcastic.)

"This means Cammie has to go with you, doesn't it?" Marie asked me hesitantly. It surprised me a little that Marie was willing to let Cammie go.

I nodded, a little annoyed with the idea. I still wasn't too sure about Cammie. That sob story had been a little too Made-for-TV-Movie sounding for me. I mean, scientists were supposed to be smart, and killing off 6 mutant kids didn't sound particularly smart. Then again, it WAS the School. They weren't the brightest batch of humans I'd met, even by a long shot.

"Yeah. Otherwise there'll probably be more of those guys coming." I replied, remembering that Marie had asked a question.

"All right." Marie hugged Cammie tightly and went upstairs. "I'll be right back."

We waited until she came back with a bag of clothes. She also stuck a box of granola bars into the bag and handed it to Cammie.

"Take care of yourself, okay honey?" Cammie nodded and hugged Marie. Then we all walked out the front door and down the street. Once we got out of the city, I lead the group to a secluded spot and spread my wings. The others slowly followed suit, Cammie last of all. Her wings were just like the feathers under her hair, varying from dark tawny brown to blackish gold. I kept an eye on her, but then turned my attention to getting into the air. As we took off, I saw the snake thing again. It-well, he now. It looked human.-dialed a phone and watched us as we flew up into the air. He started talking, gesturing as he spoke. Well at least he wouldn't bother Marie anymore.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As we glided through the air, I heard the voice again.

_Hello Max. _

I sighed loudly. _Oh what now?_

_____________________________________________________________________________________

**Okie dokie! We now know that Cammie really is a bird-kid. But WHY does the flock need her? What happened to the rest of **_**her**_** flock? And WHAT does the voice want now? You'll find out the answers to some of these questions…in the next chapter. **

**Please rate/review!!!! I want to know what you think, how you like it, and you can even predict what'll happen next! Plus, reviewers are special! Don't you want to be special??? My mom says I'm special!!! *passes out with excitement***

**PS: If you yawned when you read the bit about the yawning, then include that in the review. I think it's funny when that happens. **


End file.
